FTO — body weight susceptibility variant
One copy of the FTO body-weight variant detected.
You have one copy of the FTO version linked to slightly higher body weight on average.
Associated with a small lifetime increase in BMI on average (~0.5 kg per copy in adulthood). Most carriers are not overweight; lifestyle dominates.
On average, people with this version weigh about half a kilogram more in adulthood than people without. Most people with it aren't overweight — your lifestyle has a much bigger effect.
What this means
FTO was the first common variant robustly associated with body weight, identified in 2007. It appears to act partly via altered appetite regulation. The effect per copy is small — a kilogram or two in adulthood — and physical activity, diet, and sleep all dwarf it. Studies of FTO carriers responding to lifestyle interventions find similar weight-loss responses regardless of genotype, which is to say: this is not destiny.
FTO was the first common DNA change reliably linked to body weight, discovered back in 2007. It seems to work partly by subtly affecting appetite. The effect per copy is small — about a kilogram or two as an adult — and physical activity, diet, and sleep all matter far more. Studies that follow people through weight-loss programmes find that people with the FTO version lose just as much weight as people without it. In other words, this is not destiny.
Caveats
- Effect size per allele is small at the individual level.
- Carriers respond as well as non-carriers to weight-loss interventions.
- The biological mechanism appears partly mediated through neighbouring genes (IRX3/IRX5), not FTO itself.